Frequently Asked Questions : Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc.

Will The Implosion Affect Gas Lines, Water Lines, Electrical Services and Other Utilities?

No. There will be no adverse effect on any of these utility services as a result of implosion operations.

How Will The Schools Be Affected?

The schools will not be adversely affected by the implosion. If the wind is blowing toward the school at the time of the implosion, a thin coating of dust will result. There will be no structural damage as a result of the implosion. The Implosion Team will be reviewing implosion operations with representatives of the area schools.

Do We Need To Board Up Our Windows? Will Our Windows Break?

We do not expect windows to be broken as a result of the operation. No special effort will be needed on the part of any resident or shop owner adjacent to the site. If the contractor chooses to place any protection on adjacent properties, it will be erected and removed by the contractor at his expense.

Will The Dust Affect My Breathing Or My Asthma?

We are always concerned with the impact of dust on residents who might have respiratory problems. First and foremost, we try to see that these residents are put in a position upwind during the implosion. In other words, if the wind is blowing out of the east to the west, we would like you to be on the east side of the structure so the dust blows away from you. If you are in an area where you do not have to evacuate your structure, it is usually more than adequate to close windows and doors to keep dust out. If there is any question about the effect of masonry dust on your specific respiratory ailments, you should consult your physician accordingly.

How Far Will The Dust Travel?

First of all, it’s important to point out that the same quantity of dust will be created by the implosion, as would be the case by demolition. The advantage of implosion is that the dust is created at one, predetermined time. In other words, we can all plan for the dust and deal with or mitigate it accordingly.

The distance the dust travels depends entirely upon the direction and speed of the wind at the time of the implosion. If it were an absolutely still day, the dust might not travel much. On a windy day, the dust will travel much farther. Most of the heavy dust particles fall out of the air within a few hundred feet, while finer particles can travel at a greater distance.

How Will The Implosion Affect The Nearby Homes And Other Structures Within The Complex?

The most obvious impact will be the fact that the area will be temporarily cleared within the safety perimeter during the implosion. We will ask residents and shop owners within that vicinity to close their windows, turn off air conditioning units and other air intakes, place plastic sheeting over louvers or vents in their buildings and take other general precautions to ensure that dust doesn’t enter their structures. Dust is the main byproduct of all types of demolition, which affects adjacent properties. Noise and vibration levels will be generally below those as limited by law (laws vary by state) and would be well below levels that would cause any type of damage, even to older and possibly poorly maintained structures.

Do We Detonate All The Floors?

The number of floors to detonate will be determined by structural analysis. This analysis includes: the condition of the structure, height of structure, exposures surrounding the structure and direction of fall, to mention a few. We specifically weaken a required number of floors to ensure the building inclines to a non-exposed area or create a non-exposure area via sequencing the detonations.

What Type Of Explosives Do We Use?

The nature of explosives has dramatically changed over the decades. When a structural steel building is imploded, you view the work of a Space Age explosive called a "Linear Shaped Charge". We use this tool to actually sever steel, not "blow it apart". Most often we will use good old-fashioned dynamite, because of it's detonation properties, or a newly developed product in "slurry" form.

Once the 'button is pushed' all of the charges will detonate at a predetermined interval. The blast machine is mastered from a command post, which is generally set up several hundred feet from the structure. Safety coordination is generally directed from the command post, which is made up of the blast team including representatives of the City.

How Long Will The Implosion Take? Will We Feel It?

The actual implosion will last no more than a few seconds. Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc. will generally place many small explosive charges (usually weighing a few ounces each) at critical locations on the structure. These charges will detonate at intervals to dominate the direction of fall.

With respect to 'feeling it', it is amazing how sensitive the human body is! Whether or not you 'feel it' will depend upon where you are at the time of the implosion. If you are standing downwind, you will think you feel it when you hear the noise created by the charges being detonated. Actually, you won’t. Nor will you feel the vibration from the detonation of the small charges or the fall of debris at ground level. Seismographs will be used to record the actual vibration of the implosion operations and the falling debris.

What Is The Blast Perimeter?

Through a carefully planned, step-by-step process, the Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc. Team and City Officials determine a perimeter, which must be cleared to absolutely guarantee safety of all residents and personnel. Based on prior experience, the area is normally 500 to 1000 feet around the buildings being imploded during the actual detonation of the demolition charges. There are actually two perimeters: the Primary Exclusion Zone and the Secondary Exclusion Zone. The Primary Zone allows the passage of essential personnel that are directly related to the blasting operations; no vehicles or pedestrians are allowed in this area. The Secondary Zone allows regular every-day passage of vehicles and pedestrians. Police and security personnel will enforce these safety perimeters.

The 1515 tower implosion: Life's a blast for this building-busting clan

By Andrew AbramsonPalm Beach Post Staff Writer

WEST PALM BEACH — The Kelly family travels the country like a posse on a mission to destroy, unhitching their trucks and trailers long enough to blow up buildings and then saddling up and moving on.

Though their matching cowboy hats and shirts caught West Palm Beach's construction services director by surprise, he knows the Kellys are among the country's most sought-after demolition experts, fully capable of safely pulling off the Valentine's Day implosion of the 1515 Tower on the South Flagler Drive waterfront.

It's a challenge, Eric Kelly concedes, and one that has neighbors on edge. The 30-story, hurricane-damaged condo will be the third-tallest building imploded in the United States when it goes down Feb. 14, according to Kelly.

But Kelly, 50, has run Advanced Explosive Demolition for 30 years. It became a family affair when he met Lisa a decade ago.

"I was unimpressed completely," said Lisa, 49, of her first meeting with her future husband. Two of their children from previous marriages were dating, bringing Eric and Lisa together.

"I'm not an implosion groupie like most people. But wow, talk about explosive."

To West Palm Beach residents, especially those on South Flagler Drive, the 1515 Tower is the eyesore they can't avoid looking at every day. Built in 1974, the condo was damaged heavily in the 2004 hurricanes, forcing residents to move out.

For more than five years, delays from developers and city development requirements have kept the tower vacant and decaying.

Late last year, when it seemed like the demolition would finally take place, the original explosives company couldn't secure the $50 million of insurance that West Palm Beach required to protect neighboring condos.

The Kellys won the assignment.

They arrived from St. Maries, Idaho last week, cowboy hats and all, ready to fill the 1515 with 2,000 sticks of dynamite.

"There have been a couple of 30-story buildings to come down, but not many, and they didn't have exposure like this," Eric Kelly said. "The buildings next door are 142 feet away. This is tight and it's in a high-dollar community."

Some demolition companies might be nervous. The Kellys are thrilled.

Eric has imploded more than 1,000 buildings in 30 years, from Miami to India to Newfoundland and Greece.

Construction has long been the field of choice for Eric's family. His father was in demolition, though he never worked in implosions. Eric's brother was killed at age 21, falling to his death while installing a roof on a school.

Eric believes he's the only imploder in the world who's completely self-taught.

"I've been teaching myself since I began blasting at 11 years old," Eric said. "You just have to use common sense and you have to have some engineering fundamentals."

Eric's blue-collar upbringing in Scranton, Pa., is another world from Lisa's childhood in Nashville and California.

Her father, Buz Wilburn, was a senior executive for Capitol Records, and her uncle, Neil Wilburn, was a producer for RCA Records. If you name a group from the 1960s to the 1980s, Lisa has probably seen them perform — Pink Floyd, Metallica, The Grateful Dead.

Lisa eventually headed to Idaho to start a fitness company. She and Eric hit it off, merged their families and embarked on a life on the road.

Lisa home-schooled the kids because the family would spend almost the whole year in their trucks and trailers.

Most of their children are now adults with kids of their own. Sal, Frankie, Travis, Junior, Alfred and Nicole all help the family in the final stages of implosions, and most of them are expected in West Palm Beach this week.

Daughter Eliya is Eric and Lisa's one child together. Traveling is just a normal part of her life, although the 5-year-old blonde would rather work on her nails than explosives at this point.

Eric said the traveling is not stressful, and the family enjoys it. The hardest part of his job is dealing with the public, as well as government bureaucracy.

Residents are always nervous before an implosion, and at a community outreach at Palm Beach Day Academy on Wednesday, the Kellys spent 90 minutes answering questions, many repetitive. He understands it's part of his job, and he tries to reassure the public, but Eric says it can be tough working in cities where many people are hostile.

Dealing with West Palm Beach, Eric said, has been difficult at times. He said just obtaining the permit was a challenge, and the city has much more stringent demands than he faced in Miami or Tampa. Plus, paying more than $200,000 in insurance means the family could lose close to $100,000 on the 1515 demolition.

The implosion was supposed to be filmed for a series on The Learning Channel, but TLC had to back out because of production costs. Financial backing from TLC would have helped recoup the money from high insurance fees. Still, the Kellys didn't want to turn down the opportunity to take down a 30-story building.

In fact, they said they often have trouble paying the bills, which forced them to work 23 jobs last year.

"We're kind of the little guy who makes a lot of people a lot of money," said Lisa, of being a subcontractor. "Sometimes you get paid, sometimes you don't. Sometimes what you make keeps you on the road until the next job."

The jobs, which take weeks to complete, can be a thrill. But when they're completed, there's no celebration. Often, there's a slight depression.

After all the anticipation and stress of prepping the building, there's the excitement and intensity of the structure finally coming down. "Then there's that moment that it's all over, and it sucks," Lisa said.

"In the same breath we say 'we have another job lined up, right?' If you don't, it's over, because the dollars go fast. Living on the road breaks you."

Regardless, they wouldn't have it any other way.

With 30 years of work and little recognition from the public, the Kellys will finally have their moment in the spotlight.

The Imploders, a reality show about the Kellys on TLC, aired its pilot episode in December. The rest of the six-part series will begin in March.

Both the Kellys and TLC were hoping West Palm Beach would be the grand finale, but TLC needed production completed by the end of January and the city said it needed two more weeks to ensure proper safety procedures.

While the family is disappointed their tallest implosion won't air on national TV, they're still ready to bring down 1515.

"This building is tight and it's tall," Eric said. "It's an excellent challenge."